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Introducing bottle at night time while breastfeeding

my 8 day old baby boy is nursing wonderfully, about every 2 hours during day and only gets up about 2 times per night to feed, like aroud 1 or 2 and 4 or 5. We safely co-sleep, skin to skin a lot, and I hold him mostly all day. I am enjoying nursing and loving being a mommy, but I have always had a little anxiety since I was in high school. Nothing serious, I always had about 2-3 glasses of wine a night until I was pregnant and then I stopped. I would really be happier and more relaxed if I could do that again now.(please try not to judge harshly, that is my only thing I am maybe being a little selfish about) So I want to be able to give my baby a bottle at night time once or twice. I read how little alcohol gets in the breastmilk and if you feel sober enough to drive you can bf, but I do feel that after my wine and would not feel compfortable breast feeding baby. Plus my husband wants to feed him sometimes too. So I'm asking for help on how much milk to put in the bottle and if anyone else gives their newborns bottles once in awhile and still breastfeeds ok?? thanks in advance I would love some help or others input!

Re: Introducing bottle at night time while breastfeeding

hi mama, congrats on your new baby!

there's a couple things i want to address in your qeustion.

1. wine and breastfeeding. you are right: if you are sober enough to drive you can bf. really. i totally understand about feeling happier and more relaxed. 2-3 glasses in one sitting is probably more than i would feel comfortable with , but 1 or even 2 over a longer period of time i absolutely do / have done.
2. BUT if you give a bottle at night you have to pump. especially at 8 days, this is CRITICAL for your long-term milk supply. so giving a bottle now means a LOT more work for you. particularly if you are co-sleeping, pumping means you will not be getting the rest you're getting now. (also - waking 2x a night is awesome, don't expect it to last )
3. some babies get nipple/flow confusion from bottles. many don't. the problem is you don't know if your baby is one of them until after you try. this is why most sources, including LLL, recommend no bottles until at least 4, preferably 6 weeks.
4. your husband feeding the baby is an entirely different issue. there are lots of ways dads can bond with baby besides feeding, and getting nursing off to a good start is one of the most important things you can do right now. if it were me, i would find those other ways for dad to bond, until at least 4-6 weeks.

Re: Introducing bottle at night time while breastfeeding

Re: Introducing bottle at night time while breastfeeding

If it were me, I think I would try to stick it out for a few more weeks. Not forever. Just a little bit longer. Just to get everybody firmly established in the nursing groove and your supply is more stable. As the PP mentioned, 6 weeks is probably a good range. Before then you might enjoy one glass just after nursing and be fine to nurse again when baby is ready. I would personally not feel safe co-sleeping after 3 drinks, that might worry me more than nursing. But that is something for you and your husband to decide together.

When you reassess in a few weeks you might find that your baby is sleeping longer and you feel comfortable nursing again without doing a bottle in between. If you do want to do a bottle, I think you'll just have to experiment a bit with which one/how much works for your baby. We do about 2oz per bottle and sometimes my 11 week old eats it all, sometimes not. My first had bottles from the beginning with no trouble (he needed EBM supplements while in the NICU, and we just kind of kept up the bottles a few times a week) my 2nd didn't try bottles until about 9 weeks. He has no trouble at all with nursing, but he is not really happy about the bottle. He only does it when I'm at work and none of us (baby, husband, me) think it's a better option. They do daddy bonding by holding, singing, walking, diaper changing, etc.

Re: Introducing bottle at night time while breastfeeding

Take it from someone who went thru lots of effort to battle what I call "bottle preference " after introducing the bottle v. Early. If you want to continue nursing, def. stick it out! Hubby can do other important things like burping and bathing!

Re: Introducing bottle at night time while breastfeeding

It's too soon. Do not try to introduce a bottle until the 4-6week point. And I agree that 2-3 glasses is too many. Not only throw off when you can next nurse comfortably but it also throw your co-sleeping arrangement at risk. Because under the influence of alcohol you sleep more deeply (Which you DO NOT WANT at this point in the game) and that puts you at risk of both not being as acutely aware of your child and when they wake and also more like to roll over on or or smother the baby. Co-sleeping, which most people here will tell you IS SAFE and a very effective way to nurse well and get the most sleep available to you at this point, is UNSAFE when practiced by people under the influence of drugs or alcohol. So I would definitely not be drinking 2-3 glasses of wine and then going to sleep with the baby in the bed.
At this point, right after the child goes to sleep and you KNOW that you are going to have AT LEAST a 2hour window where you would not need to nurse AND you are going to stay awake, I would have ONE glass of wine. That is it at this point. And if you were in fact using the wine to sleep more effectively, I would pass on it altogether at this point. Because this new hypersensitive light sleeping that is happening now, that is your Mama instinct kicking in. And that is how it's supposed to be. I would always wake up as soon as my baby started to root. He never ever made it to actually crying. Because I was right there and from the minute he was born I was hyper aware of him and ever move he made. That is the new normal. And that is how you want it. Especially in these early weeks.

Re: Introducing bottle at night time while breastfeeding

Originally Posted by @llli*djs.mom

Because this new hypersensitive light sleeping that is happening now, that is your Mama instinct kicking in. And that is how it's supposed to be. I would always wake up as soon as my baby started to root. He never ever made it to actually crying. Because I was right there and from the minute he was born I was hyper aware of him and ever move he made. That is the new normal. And that is how you want it. Especially in these early weeks.

Re: Introducing bottle at night time while breastfeeding

congrats on your new baby and getting breastfeeding off to a fantastic start. To answer your bottle question, I would suggest never put more than one to two ounces in a bottle at a time and always use paced bottle feeding techniques whenever giving a newborn a bottle for any reason. http://www.llli.org/docs/00000000000...astfedbaby.pdf

I am curious about where the 'if you are sober enough to drive it's ok to nurse' idea is coming from. it concerns me because that means very different things to different people. Does this mean, sober enough to drive-legally? That differs from area to area-plus how would one know, unless they had a blood alcohol test done?

From The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, 2010, pages 375-376 here is what the entry on alcohol use says: “Alcohol
Mothers have enjoyed alcohol while breastfeeding since time began. It is generally safe in moderation. The Backstory
Alcohol is present in your milk at the same level as in your blood, and rises and falls along with it. if you know your alcohol blood level, you know your milk alcohol level. However, babies don’t metabolize alcohol nearly as well as adults do, and when there’s alcohol in the milk they seem to take in less milk than they would otherwise. Combine that with the slowed milk release that can result from alcohol, and your supply and your baby’s growth can be compromised if you drink substantial amounts regularly. A beer or glass of wine a couple of times a week is unlikely to matter, and the effects decrease as your baby gets older.

What You Can Do
If you want to minimize the alcohol your baby gets, try nursing right before you have a drink-your milk will be alcohol free again within two or three hours.”

Please note the amounts this entry is generally talking about as likely fine-ONE beer or ONE glass of wine a couple of times a week.

I also enjoy the occcasional glass or two of wine, and i have certainly had wine while nursing. I don’t think you are being selfish to want to continue a habit that gave you pleasure prior to getting pregnant, one that many people indulge in. And you obviously care very much how this might affect your baby and are being careful, which is very commendable. Because as mothers our choices do very greatly affect our children. one thing to consider is that you are currently in the very early post partum time, which is a very tricky and often difficult time hormonally and mood-wise. Even if you were not nursing, imo it would be smart to be very careful about mood altering drugs at this stage-including alcohol.

I would ask you to consider the amount of consumption you are talking about. 2-3 glasses of wine is a half to 3/4th bottle of wine-and you are saying this was your nightly habit. Alcohol is a drug, and is a particularly addictive drug. It also has a depressant effect particularly on regular users. Just something to think about.

For more about the details of alcohol consumption while nursing, I suggest you call the infantrisk medications and breastfeeding helpline.http://www.infantrisk.com/